A Texan Goodbye
by Katherine41319
Summary: Oneshot. Meg's Uncle Ollie dies and she doesn't tell Harm. Harm finds out and confronts her. Major fluff again. Meg/Harm


AN: Major fluff. Sorry to all you Mac fans out there. These are just a few stories wrote a while back so sorry for any mistakes. Critisim is very welcome.

xxx

Uncle Ollie was not Meg's uncle; nor was he even related to her in anyway. But his passing left a hole in her heart that she struggled to cover up. Meg refused to tell even her partner Harm that Ollie was dead.

Unfortunately or fortunately things went differently. Harm was asked to the funeral. Two weeks after Ollie had died. Meg hadn't told Harm that he was dead yet; that was when it all started.

Meg was just sitting in their office working in a caffeine induced haze, trying to finish filing reports. Harm had delegated his reports to her earlier that day, and she had gladly accepted the distraction, it was better than her previous attempts to put Ollie's death out of her mind. Focusing hard on the second to last one before she could take off for the evening, Meg weighed up in her mind the repercussions of court marshalling Petty Officer David Fraser.

Tears for Ollie just kept getting in the way.

Harm leaned against the door. Meg was poking the tip of her tongue out in concentration. It was cute. His smile faded though at the thought of the secret she had been hiding from him these past weeks. Meg's father had died when she was young in Vietnam. His old partner had eventually taken over the father role in her life; Meg's Uncle Ollie. It would be killing his partner.

"Meg?" Harm said, "I'm taking you back to my house for dinner."

Maybe if he had worded it differently or even given her a choice the result would have been different. The first emotion was surprise at him being in the room. This was quickly followed by shock at his request of a meal together, at his house. Finally that was followed by a sinking feeling at the 'we are going to have a long and serious talk', expression on his face.

Meg considered the reasoning behind that expression being the Hunter case, because surely he hadn't any other reason to look at her like that.

Usually she was so open about things; whatever she thought she said. It was part of her Texan upbringing. Harm loved her for it. She didn't know why this time was different, it just was.

Harm had considered this when planning on how to bring up Ollie and the whole funeral thing. The whole he has been dead for two weeks and you haven't told me yet thing. He still had no plan, Harm was opting for improvisation. Blunt and outright was her style, not his. But for her he would try anything.

Meg couldn't decide whether she should be procrastinating the 'talk', or if she wanted it over with as soon as possible. It wasn't in her nature to procrastinate; so she hurried to get her stuff together. In the middle of grabbing a couple of folders on the Hunter case Meg thought of Ollie. Uncle Ollie. Damn, if Harm knew about Ollie she was dead.

Meg hoped all this 'talk' was going to be about the Hunter case. Cause she couldn't stand it if this was about Ollie, she might just break.

xxx

Harm swung his door open with a flourish, "Milady". Meg stepped into Harms apartment. Gone was the sawdust and sheets, in their place were nice wooden fixtures that completed the apartment. "Got it all fixed up I see Harm", Meg said.

Unconsciously rubbing her hands together, "It looks nice".

"Thanks Meg." Harm grabbed a cloth of a stool and gestured for Meg to sit.

"So what is this about sir?" Meg questioned Harm. He looked nervous which lead her to believe this wasn't about the Hunter case. She grinned at him cheekily. It was what she would do under normal circumstances. And she wanted to appear as normal as possible.

Harm grinned, it was a slightly less cheerful version of the Rabb smile. "I can't just invite my partner over to dinner for no reason?" He busily gathered food items avoiding her eyes. This made her even more apprehensive of what was to come.

"Spit it out." As an afterthought she added, "Sir".

"What?!" He stopped in the middle of bringing out some glasses. Meg amended her statement. "Sir, just tell me why I'm here." Harm looked to the side. He shifted.

"You tell me Lt Austin". He looked right at her. "You tell me." Damn. He knew about Ollie. Now it was Meg's turn to avoid his eyes. She arranged the glasses he had since put down symmetrically.

"Tell you?" Meg felt her emotions start to betray her. She didn't really want to tell Harm. Telling someone would make it all painfully real. Harm would also want to know why she hadn't told him earlier. Then she would have to explain her emotions. And right now she couldn't do that.

"Yeah. Meg. Tell me that your Uncle Ollie died." Harm spoke a little softer. "That he died two weeks ago. Meg." This last part was a plea for her to explain herself to him.

"I can't just yet Harm. I can't. It is just…hurts…" Then the pain almost overwhelmed her. If she had to say anymore she felt she would spiral down into a hole that she really couldn't come out of. She felt for some absurd reason that she was mourning her father and Ollie. That two people had died not one. Tears slipped down her face against her will.

Harm looked lost. The guy kind of lost when they said something and didn't quite grasp the implications. When a girl was doing something that they didn't quite know how to deal with, or what was expected of them. The typical Harm cool was failing him. He nervously walked around the counter and hesitated before putting a hand on her shoulder. He face turned relieved when she leaned into him a little.

"Meg?" She shook her head. Couldn't he see she didn't want to talk about it? Or talk at all?

Luckily Harm decided to keep quiet after that. Well for a minute. Then she suspected he felt he should say something, you know, supportive. "I'll go to the funeral with you."

Wonderful, let's just make this even better. He could see her crying now and he was also going to watch her break down in front of her family? I think not. Which is why she was surprised when she heard herself say "Thanks".

Actually Harm looked rather surprised too. Meg pulled herself together. Sort of. She was a mess. Her face was probably red and she didn't really want to see herself right now.

She had a picture in her head of what the funeral would be like. Harm and her family. At a funeral together. Oh well, he would get to see how her family did a real Texan goodbye.

Harm looked even more surprised and confused when a smile crept up on Meg's face. Yes, it was going to be a sad day, but an interesting one too. Uncle Ollie would like that.


End file.
